


Budding Criminals

by LibraryMage



Series: Ktavnukkah 5777 [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Autistic Character, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: The Leverage crew shares the stories of their first thefts.Written for day 3 of Ktavnukkah.  Prompt: food.(CW for mention of alcohol and past child abuse)





	

“The first thing I stole?  Are you talking about a real job or --”

Hardison shook his head.  “I mean the _very_ first thing,” he said.

“Thirty pounds from my cousin’s wallet,” Sophie said.  “I was saving because I wanted a bike.”

“Lame.”

“I was ten,” Sophie protested.  “What, did you expect my first crime was a million-dollar art theft?”

“I mean, kind of,” Eliot said.

“Alright, since you two were apparently born hardened criminals, what’s the first thing you stole?” she asked, shooting each of them a glare.

“My first theft was just a little credit card scam,” Hardison said, a nostalgic lilt to his voice.  “Just a few thousand dollars.  Seemed like a lot at the time, though.  Helped my Nana pay the mortgage for a few months.”

“So you weren’t so much a hardened criminal as a mama’s boy?” Eliot teased.

“And damn proud of it,” Hardison shot back.

“I think it’s sweet,” Parker said.  She turned to Eliot.  “Your turn, tough guy.”

“And if you say it was your rival school’s mascot, we’re kicking you off the team,” Hardison said.

“I ain’t a thief like you guys are,” Eliot said.  “My job’s never been about stealin’, it’s been about hurtin’ people.”  Still, his whole team stared at him expectantly.

“Fine,” he said.  “Fifty bucks.  My little brother, Seth, stole it out of our step-mother’s wallet.  I stole it back before she could notice so Seth didn’t get his ass beat.”

He took a sip of his beer and shrugged as if to say “you asked.”

“Parker?” Nate asked.  “Since we’re apparently doing this…”

“Oh, this’ll be good,” Hardison said.

Parker had to think for a second.  She’d stolen so many things and she’d started so early that….

“First thing I _remember_ stealing is an apple,” Parker said.  “I was three, I think.  Middle of the night, stole it out of my mom’s kitchen.”

Her eyes glazed over as she was pulled down that train of thought, forced by some glitch in her brain to follow that memory.  Hand on her arm, pushing her against the wall.  _Who said you earned that today?  I'm sorry!  I thought I told you to stay in your room!  Gonna put a fucking lock on the door…_   She was jolted out of it by Hardison’s voice.

“Doesn’t count,” he was saying.

“Yes it does.”  Parker’s voice came out a little louder and a lot harsher than she’d meant it to.  Had they noticed?  Yeah, yeah they did.  All of them.  Parker’s face flushed and all she wanted in that moment was to sink through the floor and disappear.  Even worse was that she could tell they all knew why.  She didn’t know how she knew.  It wasn’t their faces -- she couldn’t read faces -- and they weren’t saying anything, but she could feel it.

“Whatever, someone else’s turn,” she said, suddenly uncomfortable with the way her teammates were looking at her.  “Nate, what’s the first thing you stole?”

“The designs from Pierson Aviation,” Nate said.

“Bull!” Hardison said, staring at Nate as if he’d just claimed he once saw Bigfoot.  “You’re telling us you didn’t even steal a candy bar when you were in third grade?”

“That’s what I'm telling you.”

“God, you are just…such a Catholic.”

Parker breathed a small sigh of relief as the group erupted into bickering as they everyone tried to get Nate to tell them the truth and he insisted he already was.  They were loud, but this kind of loud was better than that kind of silence.


End file.
